It is an object of the current invention to provide a product, especially a food product that shows a thick consistency even at relatively high shear rates.
High shear rates are encountered when applying a spread like composition to bread. Examples of such composition are fresh cheese and low fat spreads.
The invention especially relates to food products showing a creamy mouthfeel.
Products giving a creamy mouthfeel are known in the art. Example of such products are dairy creams, spreadable dairy products such as those disclosed in EP-A-841856, full fat fresh cheese type products, creme fraiche and like products.
These products impart a creamy mouthfeel even at the high shear rates of chewing the product. In general such compositions are largely based on fat and/or gelatine or gelatine replacers.
It is known to reduce the fat content of such products by including biopolymers as fat replacers. However the resulting products usually do not impart creamy mouthfeel in the way the original products do.
EP-A-432835 discloses fluid compositions comprising at least one chemically setting gelling agent. The compositions can be obtained by shearing a liquid containing a chemically setting gelling agent, while gelation occurs. The compositions comprise gel particles having a mean diameter of preferably less than 100 micrometer. Such compositions allegedly possess favourable rheological properties. The compositions obtained comprise a suspension of irregularly shaped gel particles that are effective at increasing the viscosity at low shear rates, but less so at high shear rates.
EP-A-574,973 discloses the preparation of a composition comprising at least 2 gelling agents forming at least 2 distinct phases under cooling while applying shear until at least one of the two phases is gelled. The processing of the two phases takes place in conventional A- and C units. These units impart to the composition turbulent flow conditions which lead to products with a dispersed phase which has a variety of shapes which are mainly spherical with a broad average diameter distribution for the dispersed phase particles. These compositions were found not to contribute to a creamy mouthfeel in the final products.
Furthermore Wolf et al disclose in Food hydrocolloids 14 (2000), 217-225 the effect of shear history on microstructure in biopolymer mixtures that form water-in-water emulsions upon de-mixing. It discloses the use of simple shear to manipulate phase morphology of water-in-water emulsions in order to produce regular ellipsoidal or elongated structures. Cooling at the same time as applying shear is used to gel the biopolymers and trap the structures in order to produce anisotropic gel particles.
Furthermore Wolf et al disclose in Rheologica Acta 40 (2001), 238-247 the production of particles with high aspect ratio. This document does not disclose nor suggest which compositions could be applied in food products. Furthermore this document does not disclose a continuous production process for such particles.
It is therefore an object of the current invention to provide a composition which when used in a product imparts a creamy impression upon use.